Covering Canadian figure skating since 2011

Community Clubs were the Gold Mine!

I love politics. Ever since I was little, my dad instilled some kind of political bug, that my sisters say, thank God, missed them. But politics get people excited, they are important, they keep society in order.

This weekend my husband and I set out to conquer the City of Winnipeg. Armed with two note pads, a recorder and two mechanical pencils, I was ready to get some great quotes, some great interviews and to be finished my election assignment by 4:00 on Sunday.

Then I woke up.

With two wards to cover, that 4:00 dream of two completed assignments tucked neatly into my binder wasn’t going to happen. At 2:00pm on Saturday, my husband drove through North Kildonan, while I whined, “what do you mean you don’t know North K, you’ve lived in Winnipeg all your life.”

Needless to say, we got lost.

So, 4pm, we found the North Kildonan ward. As it turns out, we were in Transcona. Sorry Ms. Cable! Springfield Road can really though a person off.

When I first arrived at Grant Park mall, I’ll admit, my husband said he thought he’d have to push me out of the car. I froze.

Then I started walking up to people.

Ever notice how the word “no” doesn’t even sound like a word after a while?

Then we changed locations.

To a community centre we went. I practically attacked a man in his sixties with my questions, however, he was from Transcona. Turns out, everyone at the entire centre was from Transcona.

We hit another community centre – and struck gold.

Now, when you’re interviewing, there’s certain things you look for in people. The people that are walking out with crying children, they will look at you with disdain if you approach you. If they have a toddler in tow going towards the community centre, don’t approach them. I was able to get some great interviews from people when they came out who either had no children with them, and one man who had his young son with him.

Some of my best quotes came from the River Heights – Fort Garry community clubs.

Unfortunately, the community clubs that I went to in North Kildonan were closed on the Sunday.

Which was too bad, because I’d like that feeling of striking gold again.